The admirable heart of Mary, Saint John Eudes, and devotion to the heart of Mary

# Saint John Eudes: The Apostle of the Sacred HeartsSaint John Eudes (1601-1680), a priest of the Oratory and founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists), is the primary promoter of liturgical devotion to the Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus. His foundational work, *The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God* (Le Cœur admirable de la Très Sacrée Mère de Dieu, 1680-1681), in twelve volumes, represents the most comprehensive theological systematization of devotion to the Heart of Mary published before the 19th century. John Eudes was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.## The “Heart of Mary” in ScriptureThe biblical foundation for devotion to the Heart of Mary is found particularly in Luke 2:19 and 2:51: “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19.51). The Greek verb synterein, meaning “to keep together, to conserve,” indicates an active process of meditation and integration. The “heart” (kardia) in the Bible is not merely the organ of emotions but the center of the person: intellect, will, memory, and affection. Mary keeps in her heart the mysteries of the Son because she is, par excellence, the disciple who listens to and meditates the Word.## The Theological Structure of *The Admirable Heart*John Eudes develops in his work a theology of the Marian heart in four dimensions: (1) the carnal heart of Mary, the first heart that loved Jesus in the flesh. (2) The spiritual heart, Mary’s will and love oriented toward God. (3) The divine heart, participation in divine love through the gift of full grace. (4) The glorified heart, the transfigured heart in the Assumption. This four-part structure influenced all subsequent Marian spirituality, including the Secrets of Fátima, where Our Lady asks for the consecration to her Immaculate Heart (1917).## From John Eudes to Fátima: The Immaculate Heart of MaryJohn Eudes was the first to celebrate liturgically the feast of the Heart of Mary (1648). Devotion received renewed impetus when Pope Pius VII (1799) authorized the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in certain dioceses, and Pope Pius XII extended it to the universal Church in 1944, setting it on August 22. In Fátima (1917), Our Lady requested: “God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” The consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was performed by Pope John Paul II in 1984.## The Heart of Mary and the Heart of JesusJohn Eudes always understood the Heart of Mary in intimate relation with the Heart of Jesus: “One love, one heart, one spirit, one soul in Jesus and Mary” (*The Admirable Heart*, Book XII). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2679) confirms: “Mary is the perfect and direct way to Christ.” Devotion jointly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a distinctive feature of Catholic spirituality from the 17th to the 20th centuries, with roots in John Eudes and branches reaching Fátima, the Eudists, the Jesuits, and the Salesians.**Deepen your studies:** Explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Our Lady of Fátima, Consecration to Our Lady, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.